I must confess, I saw these on Pintrest and I just had to try them. Although, they can be costly if you just go out and buy lots of expensive shoes they can be made inexpensively if you look for deals.

These are the materials that I used but you can be very creative to make it the way you like it. I did my wreath with some ribbon (that is not in the photo) because I was seeing a little to much of the actual wreath.

Materials used

Materials I used..

6 pairs of flip-flops ( found mine at the dollar store, might pick some up on clearance at the end of the season and make one to give away next year 🙂 ) Make sure you measure up the wreath that you will be using some might take more or less depending on size of the wreath.

1 wreath (your choice of material but I found this straw wreath on clearance).

Bling (I just picked up some colorful items at the dollar store… plastic gems and a Hula necklace that I cut apart. Also, used some green ribbon that is not in this photo)

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

These items sat in the corner of my bathroom for weeks. I have to say that the creative juices were not flowing and I thought I could never make it turn out right. Although, once I just dived in I found it to be a lot easier than I thought and look forward to being a little more creative with next one.

Since my wreath was made of straw I wrapped it in a wide ribbon so that color would be seen between the flip-flops and just secured it with the Hot glue.

Then I arranged the flip-flops in the order that I wanted them. This was the harder part (if there is a harder part) for me. I kind of went around gluing every other one on and then filling in the spaces to make it look right.

Then I decorated it. My daughters loved helping me with this part so the color schemes are very colorful but that kind of describes our family. This is where you can even put a more personable touch to your wreath, anything goes. I was hoping to find a little “Welcome” sign to hang in the very middle but that will have to wait till next time.

Then I just tied a string to the back where I wanted the top to be. Stuck one of those magic hooks that can peal back off when done(I think mine was for up to 5#’s) to the front window of my door and hung it up. It is that easy. From start to finish in less than 20 minutes. Mine isn’t to fancy but I have seen some for sale for up to $60.. Yikes! I paid $10 total for mine (besides the Hot glue gun and sticks that I already had on hand) and I love that my kiddo’s were able to help.

I would love to hear how you made yours, or even better up load a picture and I will share your link. I love to see how creative others are and get even more idea’s.

A friend of mine brought over some homemade tortillas that she made for lunch one day. My family absolutely loved them and asked for me to learn to make them. “No way”, was my response because I thought they would be to hard, time-consuming or wouldn’t turn out. I also thought there was no way you could make them with out a tortilla press. I am sure one would make it easier in the long run but this recipe is easy to do without any special equipment.

It took awhile before I actually sought out how to make them and I am so sorry that it took me so long. She told me they were easy but of course I thought she was just saying that. I would love to share this easy recipe with you that will make you wonder why you hadn’t tried homemade before.

Materials you need

Homemade Tortilla Recipe

4 cups Flour ( I used Spelt but you can use any flour or a combination of any)

1 stick Butter (softened, NOT melted. If you keep your butter in the freezer like I do you can easily thaw it in the microwave for just a couple of seconds. Not to long or you will have melted spots)

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

2 cups Boiling water

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Rolling pin or hand roller.

You combine the flour, softened butter and salt. You mix this together like you would a pie crust dough. I just use a fork and cut the butter into the flour and salt till it looks like course crumbs (see pictures).

Before mixing the butterAfter Mixing in Softened Butter

Boil your water. Once boiled remove from heat and you add the Baking soda to the water ( it kind of reacts like vinegar and baking soda, don’t be alarmed this is normal). Then pour the water in the flour and mix well until soft dough ball forms. Sprinkle with extra flour as needed to create a dough that is not sticky.

Tortilla soft dough

Pinch from dough a ball about the size of a golf ball. Place on a floured surface.

Small dough ball

Flatten with rolling-pin into a circle (the double-sided pampered chef roller does wonders I hear, but I don’t have one so a regular roller is fine). Mine doesn’t come out perfectly circular but you can trace a plate with a knife to make it more even if you want to put the extra time in. I just make mine close 🙂

Rolled out Tortilla before cooking

Brown until puffs on a Hot griddle or frying pan ( I use an Iron skillet and have never had to add grease). Flip and brown a few more seconds. Each one literally take only a minute or two.

Tortilla puffs up in spots when ready to flip

Flipped side of Tortilla

ENJOY! I have made these so many ways. They are great just plain. Or you can use them instead of bread for sandwiches, wraps or pretty much anything. I have fried these with cinnamon sugar for desserts or cooked them a little longer and made tortilla chips out of them. Making them like tortilla chips are my favorite. Tell me how you would eat them!? Any questions, just leave a comment and I will get back to you.

I am on the search to find more natural air fresheners and cleaners for my home and family ( I found this one on Pintrest 🙂 ). No, despite what some might think I am not going crazy and turning my life upside down (although that might not be to bad). I am just trying to find little things here and there that might make the quality of life a little bit better and maybe just a little bit easier as well.

These lemon dust cloths are all natural and take just minutes to prepare.They can be stored in an airtight jar until you’re ready to use them. Sometimes dusting with a dry cloth just moves the dirt around instead of catching it. These cloths are damp and infused with vinegar to help catch and kill the bugs at the same time. The addition of olive oil and lemon rind bring a soft polish to your furniture.

It is pretty easy, all you need is ….

2 Dusting Clothes ( I prefer the microfiber texture for cleaning and found a 3pk for $2 at $ Store, I kept my 3rd one for cleaning the windows)

1 cup Vinegar

1 cup Water

1 tsp. Olive oil (or orange oil sounds like it could be good too)

1 lemon Rind

Glass jar with lid

Mix Vinegar, water and Olive Oil.

Soak rags in solution and ring out till damp dry.

Alternate rinds with rags in a jar and seal tightly till ready to use.

I kept the used solution in a different jar to make one more batch after I have used my clothes several times, it makes plenty).

That’s it. Hope you love this one as much as I do. If you have any natural cleaners or idea that are quick or work wonders let me know. I love to try new things!

As a mom of 5, I am always looking for fun,creative projects (that don’t make to big of a mess 🙂 ). Even though my youngest are a little bigger than toddlers, they loved this project.

I found this idea on Pintrest and thought it might be worth a try. All I did was sprinkle a good layer of Baking Soda on a cookie sheet (one that has raised edges preferably). Then gave it to my boys, each with a small bowl of vinegar and a medicine dropper. They sucked up the vinegar with the dropper and dripped it wherever they wanted on the pan. Of course, instant reaction from both the vinegar and my boys!

My older ones loved it too but it didn’t keep their attention for as long as it did you younger ones. There are so many learning activities you can do with this project, from… smell,taste, and touch to more advanced… Solid, liquid, gas. So much fun and my kids didn’t even realize they were learning. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this one sooner!

Being on-line has its perks. Lately I received a free meal of Kroger store brand items for being a BuzzAgent. ( If you don’t know what BuzzAgent is click here. Totally awesome site that you receive free items and give your feed back for. You also receive great coupons to pass out to others.) Anyway, in this Buzz campaign for Kroger brand items I received a free Pork Loin (Kroger brand of course) and it was AWESOME. I am not a pork person, mind you, Chicken is much more my meat of choice. Yet, this cut and recipe made it so quick, easy and delicious it made me want to go back and get more. So I thought I would share 🙂

Recipe for a Deliciously Perfect Pork Tenderloin

1 Pork Tenderloin(Ours was from Kroger and weighed 3#’s, that fed about 4 adults & 4 children adequately but not abundantly)

Kraft Fresh Take Cheese ( we used Cheddar Bacon flavor ..yum)

Seasonings: Worcestershire sauce & Krazy salt

Oven baking bag

In the morning I cut open one end of the bag that the Tenderloin came in and poured the Worcestershire sauce in the bag. I placed this in a 9×13 pan and put in the refrigerator all day. I occasionally rotated the meat to make sure the sauce marinated all sides.

When I was ready to start dinner (roughly 1 1/2 hours before eating time for this meat), I placed my Oven Baking bag in a separate 9×13 pan on the counter ready for my meat. Then I opened the meat bag (still in the other 9×13 pan with Worcestershire in it) and just rubbed the Krazy salt on all sides, (We are parcel to Krazy salt but any seasoning salt would do). Then rubbed the Kraft Fresh take cheese all over it (if you haven’t heard of this it is basically just seasoning, crumbs and cheese in a bag. To learn more click here).

Once fully rubbed down with seasoning salt and Cheese I place the meat in the Oven Baking Bag and sealed with the oven proof tie that comes with it. (Ours didn’t have any fat on it, but if yours does always place fat side up when cooking. ) Then placed in the oven.

Now the Oven was preheated to 500 degrees. The method we used was to cook the meat for exactly 5 1/2 minutes per pound of meat and then turn the oven off WITHOUT OPENING IT!!!! You let the meat continue to cook for the next hour. So for our 3# tenderloin I cooked it for 16.5 minutes and then turned off the oven (without opening it) and let it sit for another hour!

I was a little skeptical at first, especially with it being pork and having company coming over, I wanted to make sure that it was cooked thoroughly. Pork needs to cook to 145 degrees internal temperature to be safe. So I stuck my oven thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and pulled the wire out the oven door so I didn’t have to open it (make sure your thermometer is made to do this 🙂 ) so that I could monitor the temperature.

By the time I turned off the oven the meat temperature wasn’t even to 100 degrees yet so I was a little worried but I let it sit with the oven off and didn’t open the door. When the hour was almost up the temp was over 180. Now I am worried it might get a little to done and be tough. It wasn’t. We took it out, let it sit for about 10 minutes and then sliced it. It melted in your mouth. Literally, you didn’t even have to use a knife.

I served this with salad, Kroger Mashed Potatoes (also free from Buzz agent), green beans from our garden, Crescent rolls (also free) and Iced Peach tea. Top it with Kroger Chocolate Cake (also free with Kroger buzz campaign) and Mint Ice Cream for desert. Our guests said that “we made a home run” with this one and I am sure to make it again! Prep time was literally minutes and so easy. Hope you enjoy!

If you are like my crew, the allergies have already hit. Since we had a fairly warm winter and Spring is here, everything is trying to bloom. I have several that are allergic to pets but the seasonal allergies are the worst because you can’t avoid them. I have tried several things but a friend of mine recently sent out a recipe to try.

Seasonal relief recipe:

1 Tb each of:

Honey

Lemon juice

Apple-cider Vinegar

water

Mix together and drink once a day to help boost immune system and relieve symptoms.

I have to admit I haven’t tried this for long but anything natural that might help is worth a try. I have been giving my daughter Astragalus root (herbal supplement) in capsules and it seems to be helping but she still has days that we need a little extra. Let me know if it helps you!

Yumm… even the name makes my mouth water. The awe-inspiring cake looks so decadent you almost don’t want to eat it, I said almost. There are so many ways you can make this cake to suit your taste buds it is unbelievable. It actually is very easy, it just takes a bit of ingredients to start with but once you have those, it is a piece of cake 🙂

My sister in law made the first one my family had seen for my twin boys birthday. Needless to say it has become a family favorite and everyone else who has shared a piece with us wants the recipe. So I thought that sharing it with you might be fun. You can find a recipe from scratch that originally came from Recipe Girl, but it is quite easy to adapt to anything you like.

All you need is:

Box Cake mix (Chocolate is a favorite around here but actually any flavor will do)

Icing ( flavor and recipe of your choice but a can of dark chocolate is what we would use)

Decorations:

Three 4.5-ounce Giant Kit Kat Bars (you’ll need 36 Kit Kat sticks total)
One 12.6-ounce bag M&M’s (we used Mini but you could use any color to suite the occasion)
Ribbon

To begin:

Make cake according to package directions for two 9″ cake pans. You will want to make a few cupcakes on the side to snack on as well. This is not just to keep you from carving into the cake early but to keep the layers thinner so the Kit Kats can make a well to hold the M&M’s on the top of the cake.

Once cooled, Place the first layer on a serving tray (when you are done you will not want to pick the cake up to move it to a different plate so whatever you use make sure you can transport it). Ice the sides and top of first layer. Then place the second layer of cake on top. Ice the sides and top of that as well.

Here is where it gets fun. Unwrap and separate the Kit Kat bars. I have seen where you can use either side of the Kit kat bar but we usually use the smooth side against the cake with the words on the outside.You will want to leave a very small space in between the bars (about 1/4″). Place the bar side by side, like a fence, all the way around the cake. You might need to add a little frosting here and there to help them stick if it gets a little thin.

Then fill in the cake with your choice of M&M’s. Wrap your favorite ribbon around the cake (to help secure the Kit Kat’s ) and tie a bow to complete it. You might want to refrigerate the cake for a few hours to make it easier to cut and serve (& of course don’t forget to remove the ribbon before cutting). 😉

This one is a favorite in our house but I saw a fellow blogger post the top 10 Kit Kat cakes (check it out here) on his blog. There are so many things you can do with these, so be creative! If you have made one, I would love to see a picture or hear how you created yours…. just leave a comment. Thanks!

Another variation my sister in law made around Easter for my daughter…

I love the feeling of the Satin hands set by Mary Kay. It always leaves your hands so satiny soft but tends to be on the expensive side. So my wonderful mother and my 3 girls set out on a mission and made me some wonderful homemade sugar scrub for my birthday that leaves my skin just as soft.

All you need is:

Empty jar of your choice (you can recycle old bottles or find new cute ones just about anywhere)

Sugar (my daughters used Regular white sugar but I have seen where you can use turbinado and make it more course looking or a ration of 2:1)

Oil ( We used Olive oil because we love the feel and we had it on hand. I have also used Almond and Coconut oil but you have to be careful who you give it to that they don’t have nut allergies 😉

Scent (my girls used some essential oils in fragrances that I love, Sunflower and Rose! You don’t have to sent your sugar at all, this just gives it a more personal touch. I have even seen where you could open a tea bag of herbs that smells really good and add it to make a more organic feel. Peppermint could be good!

All you have to do is:

Fill jar a little more than 2/3 with desired sugar.

Drizzle oil over sugar and mix with a spoon. You want it to be well absorbed but not floating. ( If you chose the coconut oil you will need to put it in a bowl and warm the oil till consistency that can be mixed with the sugar then pour into container).

Then add your scent. Just a few drops of essential oil goes a long way, remember you can always add more but can’t take it away. If you were going to add herbs or other smelly things now is the time to do that as well.

Make sure it is well mixed. If you don’t use it right away you might want to give it a stir before the next use as well. Some of mine separated a little but nothing a good stir didn’t take care of. This is so simple and can be changed to make it so personal. You can decorate the jar, add smells, herbs or anything that suites your liking. ..Be creative. This is fun, easy and so inexpensive you might find yourself giving some to everyone on your gift list!

P.s. I love to use this on my feet and hands, especially after working outside. It can be used to soften most any skin but I wouldn’t suggest using it on your face. Even though it is all natural some skin might be more sensitive and may agitate it.

Another blogger tried Soap instead of Oil. I might give this one a try too… check how she did it Here.

I love the foaming soaps. It seems like they always come in cute containers and last so much longer then regular pump soap, but I never liked the price. After I did a few experiments I found out it is so easy to make your own and at a fraction of the price as well!

All you need is:

Liquid Hand soap (any variety you choose but the clear based ones seem to work best).

Lately we have had a few warms days so we have tried to come up with some fun outdoor activities This one is fun and uses items that most have on hand or can easily be picked up during the next shopping trip.

All you need is … 1 pack of mint Mentoes and 1 two liter of Diet Coke (or Diet Pepsi works too. Any soda will work but diet works best because it’s not as sticky (no sugar).. what else are those Diet drinks good for anyway 🙂 ).

Mentoe holding tube

In our picture we used a tube that you can get from Steve Spangler Science site, but you don’t have to have one. They have actually updated this tube to attach to the soda bottle to make the geyser even taller.

All you really need to do is pretty simple. Open soda bottle and have your Mentoes ready. Drop 7-8 mentoes in the soda bottle all at once (well as fast as you can… that is where the tubes can come in handy). Then … RUN! The Carbon Dioxide reacts with the mentoes and blows a geyser in the air. Ours only went about 6-8 feet but the record has been 30 feet. Come on and try this one and see how high your Geyser will blow 🙂

Here is another quick sewing project. I love these easy to follow instructions and projects that take very little time to make something very useful. Although, using a pillowcase is perfect for making one for my daughters I don’t know if I would find a pillow case big enough to make me a pair. 😉 These look so very comfy though, maybe I’ll sew a couple together. Just click on the picture to find out how..

This is a really cute way to make an edible chocolate bowl. It not only is fun but super easy and can be used for so many things. With Easter coming up these will look cute with some robin egg candy or jellybeans. Maybe make a yummy fruit bowl or pudding cup. So many ideas to be creative with. Let me know some of the uses you use yours for.

Another easy project just waiting to happen. With spring right around the corner I am falling in love with these easy outfits that will be great when the weather gets warmer. I can’t believe how easy this is. I’ll post my picture when I am done (once I find the perfect spring fabric 🙂 ), till then check out the “how to” (just click on the picture) and create your own. I would love to see some of your finished projects. Come back and let me know!

Check this Super easy recipe for Tinted lip balm that you make yourself with ingredients you actually have on hand (at least usually 🙂 ). Click on the picture to read the tutorial that is full of easy instructions and beautiful photos.

Check out this blog for a super easy tutorial for Ruffle Pants(just click the picture). These are the newest craze right now and are just so cute. Although, I can’t get my almost teenager to wear them, so maybe I will have make one for a friend or niece. 🙂 This blog is also full of tons of other fun and easy tutorial that I am sure you will love!!

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Provebs 31:27

Does Proverbs 31 overwhelm you a little? It does me. I try to think of all the things I am suppose to be doing when all I need to be doing is glorifying the Lord with WHATEVER I do.

The Lord has called ladies, wives and mothers to work with their hands. As a homeschooling Mother of 5 energetic children and wife to an awesome, godly, handsome man (just in case he reads this 🙂 ). I know many of your hands are already full. So we wanted to create a place where moms could go to find easy idea to help take care of their household.

I admit most of the ideas are child friendly but even if you don’t have children I am sure you will find something on here that pertains to you. If not, feel free to share something you think someone else could benefit from. You can find Shopping deals, healthy alternatives, crafts, projects, sewing, gardening and just fun stuff.

We want to do the research for you and give ideas that you actually have the supplies for or the super deals that you don’t have time to scourer the sale pages for. So feel free to look around and if you have ever had the thought… “I wish someone had told/shown me that”… then feel free to share. We are all growing in grace and striving to be more of A Proberbs 31 Woman

So as we get this site going join us in putting one foot in front of the other, or maybe we just need to jump in! 🙂